The End of Neopia

     Whatever it was, it was huge. The time between footsteps lingered. Or was it footsteps? He imagined The Brain Tree uprooting itself and coming after him, finally fed up with his refusal to perform his dirty work for chipped-off pieces of wood. But how would a tree walk? Are there two thick, long roots underground that can be used as legs? He imagined if a tree in the Haunted Woods could walk, it would scurry on a nest of criss-crossing roots like some kind of thousand-legged spider. What else could it be? he thought. My knowledge of Neopian lore is failing me. He thought through the short catalogue of all sentient beings remaining in Neopia, and nothing seemed plausible to be making such a sound.

     BUM…...BUM…...BUM….. came the noise, growing louder in approach. No, wait, that's not it. As it came closer, the sound jostled loose some memory from long ago.

     BOING…...BOING…...BOING….. A bright figure was bounding down the path, coming into view. Some kind of apparition, thought Larry. But why? Hey, wait…maybe King Coltzan did hear my question about those old, dead games, and he was able to pull some strings. Score! Larry had loved those games, and was sure a few rounds of Bilge Dice or beating back some baddies invading Meridell would brighten his mood.

     "Wait a second," whispered Larry. "What kind of ghost makes such a racket coming down a path?" The bright figure certainly seemed solid and took the form of a yellow Blumaroo, picking up speed.

     "I'm so happy to see you!" the Blumaroo yelled. Winding up on his springy tail, he launched himself the rest of the way to Larry. This was certainly no ghost; the yellow body shot like sparks from a Sparkshooter and collided solidly with the Shoyru, leaving them both in a heap on the path.

     "Oh, a friend!" cried the Blumaroo. "Oh, I have been looking for you for so long!"

     Larry tried to back away from the Blumaroo, but his doughy yellow arms held him in a surprisingly solid embrace. "Looking for me!" said Larry. "Who are you?"

     " Me?" said the Blumaroo. "Oh, how rude! Of course, you don't know! If you did, you would have looked for and found me! I am Boingus."

     Larry stared. "Boingus?"

     "Yes, it's a family name," said Boingus. "Isn't it fun?"

     "A family name?" asked Larry. His disbelief bloomed quickly into hope. "Are there more of you?"

     "No, there aren't many of any Neopian left," said Boingus. "I haven't seen anyone else for decades. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you and I are the only Neopets left." He furrowed his brow for a second and started again. "Well, that's not true."

     Larry continued to stare. Finding another Neopet, alive, and not just represented by a name on a gravestone for the Brain Tree, was too much for him.

     "I have seen others, obviously. I heard about you from the Tombola Guy. Nice guy, and he seemed to think highly of you as well. When I heard you were around, I spent a lot of time looking for you. Was that you who pulled all the slips of paper out of the Treasure of the Black Pawkeet all at once?"

     Larry suddenly seemed interested in his feet. "I wanted to see if the jackpot and the avatar were real…" he murmured. "I did find the jackpot."

     Boingus smiled at him, then burst into a laugh. "That is so clever! I saw other clues you were real all over the place: the pile of scratched scratch cards, and a veritable cheese mountain rolled down to the bottom of the hill. Did you once collect a bunch of rotten food, or did my nose lie to me?"

     Larry's feet were still incredibly, and ever more so, interesting. "You are right, that was all me."

     Boingus giggled some more. "Oh, I love doing things like that too! What has been your favourite thing to do in Neopia? I have loved how the Wheel of Celebration has been up and running for so long. I keep track of the record for how many times I have gotten 25,000 Neopoints in a row. My highest is 137! Have you beaten that? Or maybe you go for the NC Mall discount codes. Sometimes the wheel alternates for me: Neopoints, discount code, NEOPOINTS, DISCOUNT CODE!" He was bouncing back and forth on his tail, faster and faster, in rhythm with his chant. He ended up shaking and rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter.

     "You seem like a pleasant fellow", said Larry.

     "How could I not be?" said Boingus. "Neopia is great! It has so much to do."

     "Yes, it does," agreed Larry. "But what have you been doing for these past few decades? Do you know what happened to everyone else?"

     Boingus got a quizzical look on his face. "No, I am not sure. It was strange when everyone disappeared all at once. At first, I tried to figure it out. That was the same time I was trying to find you. But if I am being honest, I got a little distracted with all the fun I was having. But just today I was walking past the Brain Tree, and he mentioned something about a rude Striped Shoyru, and based on the Buried Treasure incident, I thought, 'Hey, maybe…'"

     "Yes, well…" murmured Larry.

     "And here we are!" exclaimed Boingus. "I found you! You found me! What do you want to do now? Do you want to play Armada? Geos? Mynci Beach Volleyball? I've been getting pretty high on my own tail in Warf Rescue Team, but maybe if I stand on your shoulders…"

      Larry was dumbfounded. "Honestly," said Larry. "I am not much in the mood for games right now. I actually feel a little sick." He sat down in a pile of crunchy leaves. "Are you sure there are no more?"

      "No one that I have seen," said Boingus. "Do you want to look for them? Maybe they are playing Kacheek Seek." He rubbed his chin, peering through the stick-like trees. "Actually, I have seen others…and there's one right there." He pointed off into the darkness.

      Larry whipped his head around, glancing side to side. "Where? I don't see anyone!" He did not see anything, but he imagined he could hear a small rustling amongst the leaves, hoping it was real.

      "Ah, he got away," said Boingus. "Anyway, what were we talking about? You said you wanted to play Kacheekers?"

      "Not now!" said Larry. "Who did you see? You've seen them before?"

      "Yeah," said Boingus. "It's all the usual guys. The Ghost of King Coltzan, the Snowager, Neopets V2, the Meepits. You're still the first living Neopet I have seen in years! Larry, right? Well, Larry, let's…"

      Larry was distracted. "Meepits? You've seen Meepits?" He racked his brain. "I haven't seen any Petpets at all. They disappeared at the same time as the Neopets."

      "They are tricky little guys," said Boingus. "Small, and they keep to the shadows, scurrying about. But if you look, you'll find them. They're always on a mission. Hey, look, there goes another." He turned to look at another shadow scurrying beyond the tree line.

      "Actually," continued Boingus. "There are quite a few Meepits here. If you haven't seen one, now's your chance."

      Larry stood up and crept to the edge of the trail. As you squinted through the gloom, the sound and sight of many small scurrying bodies rose to him. They were Meepits, all right. They seemed to have no mind for the two Neopets standing watch over them.

      "Well, I guess that's it," said Boingus. "Let's bounce!" And away he went down the trail.

      "Hold on," said Larry. "This is strange. They are all going in the same direction." Never in all these years had Larry seen one Neopet or Petpet, and today of all days, he saw many. It seemed like a dream come true. "Let's follow them."

      Boingus shrugged. "Sure, suits me. I didn't really have a plan for where I was going anyway. Their direction is as good as any."

      And so the two Neopets left the trail and excursed into the dark woods, stepping high over the tripping roots and rotting leaves covering the forest floor. Meanwhile, the small, shadowy forms of the Meepits bounded swiftly along, forcing Larry and Boingus to move quickly.

      "I'll race you!" shouted Boingus, and he sprung from his tail away from Larry.

      What an interesting little fellow, thought Larry, as he smiled and took to his wings, the cool night air whipping past him in his flight.

To be continued…